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The Wonderful Wizard of Tunisia
Africa -- Mirror Universe Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. The continent is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Suez Canal and the Red Sea to the northeast, the Indian Ocean to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Much of it has escaped the depredations of the Transformers. Contents: Lightspeed Kup Galvatron Geist Obvious exits: leads to Oceania -- Mirror Universe. leads to Europe -- Mirror Universe. leads to Antarctica -- Mirror Universe. leads to South America -- Mirror Universe. Fireflight arrives from the Oceania -- Mirror Universe to the east. Fireflight has arrived. Red Alert arrives from the Oceania -- Mirror Universe to the east. Red Alert has arrived. Spirited Geist says, "Are our new foreign friends listening?" Fireflight says, "You mean me?"%r Spirited Geist says, "Yes." Fireflight says, "I am, then. Red?" Spirited Geist says, "You are all invited. I think it prudent for you to be seen by and comunicate with our leader." Fireflight says, "Errrr... is that who I think you mean? *suddenly sounds nervous*" Red Alert says, "I'm, uhm... still not quite in top form." He pauses. "Fireflight, please, please, please be careful in your flight." Sixshot has arrived. Sunder arrives from the Oceania -- Mirror Universe to the east. Sunder has arrived. Fireflight says, "I... I think I have it." The deserts of Tunisia are quiet and cold by night, save for the occasional gust of wind over the dunes. The weather favors travel -- there is nary a sandstorm to be found, nor a Sandstorm, of the Autobots' feared Triple-Secret Police. The dunes give way to deep ravines and valleys, the terrain rough, and in some spots seemingly unconquerable -- unless you know the tricks. Secret switches and signals cause cliff faces to shift on mechanical pulleys, groaning like a demon's bellyache as they shift and allow oncoming traffic access. And just to be sure, a few Decepticons are posted at sniper's nests and various fortified spots, a ragtag and motley assortment armed with outdated and unreliable blasters. Welcome to the heart of the revolution. Across the waters, a ripple was spreading. Above that ripple was the cause; a camo-green Phantom jet, with no markings. He flew low over the water, and while there was an occasional wobble, no doubt reminders from his two passengers kept the Aerialbot-in-disguise in line. HIs engines hummed loudly under the double load, but he did not complain at all, moving fast over the water. And then, they were over the land. He rose a little to clear any trees and rocks, repeating a manta of "Straight ahead, straight ahead' to himself, to keep himself focused on his task at hand. Upon the phantoms' beat up back were two mechs : Red Alert, and Kup. Kup is riding the jet like it was a pony. Judging from the look on his face, Kup feels really foolish right now. "Unnnh. Should just drive the rest of the way. We're over the damn Mediterranean, already." Red Alert clings to the phantom's beat up back for dear life, for once cursing his enhanced senses; it makes Fireflight's unsteady flight seem all the worse. He is still badly injured from Kup's escape, and the shot on his shoulder from the jailbreak hasn't faded, either - a clear indicator that his self-repair system has been knocked completely offline. "We'd NEVER get there in time Kup." the PHantom replies, a little bit of strain in his voice, but he valiantly tried to hide it "We'll be there in a few minutes, then you can hop off, though it looks like its getting REALLY rough right now down there, and Red Alert's still hurt." The Phantom then falls silent, not as talkative or cheerful as usual. Just... moody. He adjusts his course a little, and then steadies out again. "I'm picking up the Decepticons now on my sensors. We're getting close. A Sweepcraft, making his way with an indirect route, cruises over Africa. As he approaches Tunisia, Geist transforms into his winged-bearded robotic mode, resembling Decepticon heros of olden times. The requested meeting approved. He calls for clearance ahead, giving listings of those who will be approaching and should be let enter the territory. He comes in lower and lower until landing within the entrance. Fireflight says, "We're approaching now. Five minutes away." XF-35B Astral Lightning is following someone who has a clue where the heck they're going. This whole plane of existence makes her cone ache, but if they might be in for some answers now, she is all audios. Not that her expectations are really high. While normally optimistic, Catechism does believe that she is dead, and this is the Pit, some weird place for lost data to go. She transforms and lands somewhat behind Geist. XF-35B Astral Lightning transforms into robot form. Catechism's feet unfold, her arms unfold out of her body, her nosecone rotates through her body and ends up on her shoulders to expose her face, and her wings rotate into position. Once they're clear of the gauntlet of moving rocks -- which all move out of the paths of the incoming robots with nary a hitch -- they arrive at the entrance, which is a cave tunneled into a cliff face. In front of it, two robots stand guard -- the familiar forms of Ransack and Barrage, their forms decrepit from the single-minded dedication to their solitary, isolated post. "Whoa there," Barrage says, holding a hand up. "Everyone. Identify yours-- uhh." Barrage nearly topples over, but Ransack catches him. "You okay?" "Yeah," Barrage says, shaking his head into his palm. "I just -- so focused lately, I forgot to eat. Fuel tank's a little low. No matter -- you all, ID." Another Sweepcraft approaches. He transforms and lands alongside Geist. It's Sunder--the gentle, caring, huggable Sweep. He is as anxious as his brother to attend the meeting and hear what is to be done about the strange opposites from the other world. Decepticon Message: 2/75 Posted Author Astrotrain... Wed Dec 24 Astrotrain ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Contact has been lost with Astrotrain while on deep space survey of the site of Galvatron's explosion. Whereabouts currently unknown. The seeker's are said to be holding a 'good riddance!' party. Geist nods to Catechism. "I hope that through this meeting we can find wisdom and direction. Yesterdays liberation of so many Decepticons is cause enough for meeting, but we shall see to presenting the problem of your misplacement." He turns to the guards. "I am Geist, Special Operations. Oceana cell. This is Catechism, a guest. More guests are coming. Be warned, they wear Autobot insignia. Do not panic." Astrotrain arrives from the Europe -- Mirror Universe to the north. Astrotrain has arrived. Kup tenses up, gritting his teeth. He's willingly allowing himself to be flown straight into a Decepticon fortress. "I don't fragging believe this..." As they pass the two Insecticon sentries, Kup gives them a wary look. Every instinct he has is telling him this is stupid and that the Decepticons are all going to draw their guns on him and shoot him. "I dunno about you guys, but I don't like this. I just don't." Kup hops off of Fireflight once they're near the entrance to the cave. He answers the two Insecticons' query with: "Take a look at me. Who do I look like? Yeah. I know. Crazy, huh?" Red Alert shuts his eyes for a moment, then forces them back open. Gotta be alert for possible treachery... gotta be alert for possible treachery... AAAAAA!!! WHY WON'T FIREFLIGHT FLY STAIGHT! ... gotta be alert for possible- "I don't like it either, Kup, but we don't have man - ack! - many alternatives." After the landing, Red clambers off after Kup, and immediately stumbles on his injured legs. Fireflight slows down... a lot... but not enough to stall. He stares at the incoming terrain - MOVING - ahead of him now. He continues forwards at that 'snails' pace "... Uhm... Terrain. Moving terrain." He states to his passengers, in that 'uh oh' kind of way. His sensors focus on the moving valley ahead, finding it almost... mesmerizing. He ignores Kup, just simply flying STRAIGHT FORWARDS... And passing harmlessly between the well-timed rocks. He glides down, landing hard and braking quickly - for a reason, in that most coming here did not need a landing strip, but transformed to land here. He sighs, wheels relaxing as Kup hops off, and he waits patiently for his passengers to get off. Then he too transforms, moving after Red to grab his elbow to help him stand. Catechism just wants things to make sense, though she doubts that she's going to get this. She suspects there will only be more confusion for her. She glares huffily at the Autobots and at... camo green jet? Is that Acid Storm? No, no, the design is wrong. Red Alert is so injured! It's so very tempting... but Catechism refrains and follows along quietly for now. Falling foward onto all fours, Sixshot stands poised as a winged wolf, claws and teeth at the ready. "A-A-Autobots!" Ransack gasps, stumbling to lift his armament. "Back away, Decepticons -- I daren't catch any innocent comrades in my attack!" Barrage, too, hefts his weapon, pointing it at Kup. "I loathe using this," he says, shaking the barrel menacingly, "but I w-won't hesitate to protect my friends! Why are you here, /Autobot/?" Both sound really rather more terrified than anything else. Geist has remained with the Insecticon guards for this very reason. They don't listen. He holds up his hands and blocks their aim. "Easy now. They are non hostiles. They are guests. We have invited them here." The bugs can get a little buggy, it's true. Finally he says with soothing authority, "At ease." Red Alert allows Fireflight to support him... up until the point when the Insecticons bring their weapons to bare on them, at which pint he instinctively stumbles back. "Yes! Yes!" he says desperately, waving towards Geist with his free hand. "We were invited!" Somewhere high above in the sky, there is a brilliant flash of light, a Quantum-Leap style portal... ...and then a screaming space shuttle. That usually happens when you go from the inertia-less empty void of space with no resistance, into an atmosphere and suffer sudden deceleration the likes of which could be compared to running face-first into a brick wall just for giggles. "Waaaaugh!" It's a good thing Astrotrain is very sturdy, or he would have been torn into ribbons in an instant. As it is, he manages to get himself decelerated, and in one piece as his superheated form begins to cool down, and he gets his bearings back. One instant he's in deep space looking for the place where Galvatron vanished, and now...? "...how the -smeg- did I end up back on this mudball?" he growls, his sensors going on full sweep mode around himself. Lightspeed drove along through the area himself, rather literally. That is to say, he's currently underground, in his car mode, shooting out a path in front of him as he drove along. He said nary a word, just going straight at his work, not seeming to pay any attention to where he was going, save for when he got too far down to the heat of the lava/magma. His sensors didn't pick up any of the mechanical equipment that happened to be around, sometimes just passing by them with only enough space to keep him from seeing them. None the less, he continued to dig, and it could be anyone's guess as to why. "I really wish I had a better form for this..." Lightspeed muttered a bit. Kup glares at the Insecticons. They're very fortunate that Kup manages to restrain himself and not turn the Insecticons' own weapons against them in the most horrific way possible. "Thank you... *Geist.*" Kup hisses between his teeth. He looks around at the other Decepticons. Catechism's here, too? Hm, must be another "good" Decepticon, for what that's worth. "Okay. We're here to meet your boss. The sooner we do that and get outta here, the better." Both Insecticons have heard Geist, as well, but continue to panic anyway. "This is -- This is highly dubious, Sweep!" Ransack squeaks. "What if they -- What if they --" There is a low rumble from behind them, as the cave door opens. "Now, Insecticons," a deep voice says, "it is important to remember to always respect the authority of our organization -- if Geist has placed his trust in these Autobots, we must afford him the same courtesy." Motormaster emerges, and the Insecticons sweep out of his way, lowering their guns. "W-We apologize, Motormaster, Geist--" Barrage begins. "We make mistakes only to learn from them," Motormaster says, resting a giant hand on Barrage's shoulder. "Geist, you and your men -- and your guests -- are cleared to enter. Galvatron is waiting. I am off -- we detected a falling object from the sky -- it may be an Autobot spy satellite. Be strong in my absence." Then, walking past the crowd, Motormaster transforms and begins to drive through the hazards. Ransack and Barrage, humbled, stare at their feet. The door stands, open. Fireflight tenses a little at the two Insecticons. Had he been wrong about all of this? He had started towards Kup, but then stops as it seems, others decided to interfere as well. He sighs a little and waves to the Sweeps he recognised, still looking... tired. "Come on then, Kup, Red Alert." he states, helping Red Alert again now, hoping that was the last of these instances. His optics dim and he glances to the ground, unfocusing. Geist gives Motormaster a grateful nod and motions for the gathered company to move on into the facility. "This way... we'll try not to keep you from more important matters, Kup." He gives a jovial chuckle and warm smile. The Sweep leads the other-worlders and the M-Decepticons deeper into the headquarters. Sunder follows Geist and Motormaster down deeper into Headquarters. He gives a reassuring glance to Fireflight. He then levels a glare at the two Insecticons. "I know it is difficult to trust Autobots, but these are particularly extreme circumstances," he says. Catechism is not a 'good' Decepticon. She is evil and totally confused. Baffled, she shouts at Motormaster as he leaves, "Good luck?" The Motormaster that she knows owes her some money, but he's a decent guy, aside from that. Shrugging, she follows the group in deeper into the complex. Fireflight smiles back to Sunder, giving the sweep a little bit of a wave with his free hand, although the smile was forced. Instead, he focuses back ahead now, keeping his peace. Red Alert looks towards Kup for confirmation - and perhaps to get a handle on what he thinks of all this - before he allows Fireflight to guide him onwards. He eyes Motormaster warily, nervous frown etched deep in his expression, though it's the Insecticons he watches most carefully as they pass. As soon as they do, however, he gets back to looking around him, his attention jumping from spot to spot in its usual, jerky manner. Kup stares, hard, at Motormaster. He really can't believe it. One of the most hated Decepticons, even by his own side, is a caring and compassionate leader? And the Sweeps are warm and friendly? "Ehnnnnh. Don't worry about it." Walking into the entrance to the cave, he manages to catch something from Catechism. What did she say? And she looks just as puzzled as he feels about Motormaster. Frowning, Kup leans in towards his fellow Autobots and quietly mutters, "Watch that Seeker chick. I think she came here from the same place we did." Decepticon Shuttle begins to lose some altitude, partly due to wanting a better look at the surroundings, and partly due to the fact he's a little overheated at the moment and needs to give his flight thrusters a chance to cooldown. Following along a river for some distance, he finally decides enough is enough and transforms, landing in the water, which is deep enough to come up to his knees. Crocodiles scatter in all directions as the big Decepticon triplechanger makes his presence known, and the locals from the fishing village he landed near all stare in awe for a few seconds. That is, until Astrotrain lashes out with a huge boot and upsets one of their boats, sending it crashing amongst the buildings! "Freakin pusbag rodents! I bet you had somethin to do with this, didn't ya!? And why the smeg aren't I gettin any transmissions!?" He is of course sending out hails on the Decepticon frequencies, but they are of course, the wrong frequencies. In a chorus of shifting and spinning parts, Astrotrain's body spins and lifts up into his large robot mode. You receive a radio message from Astrotrain: Where the smeg -is- everybody? I better not learn everyone went and moved back to Charr or somethin just cause they think the Boss bought it! Red Alert tilts his head in response to Kup's comment, but really. He's watching them /all/, anyway. Then, suddenly looks up at the roof, stumbles against Fireflight, and mutters, "Oh, no..." Fireflight errfs at Red Aler'ts actions, body tensing to help support the mech "... Red?" he murmers, concerned. He then looks at Kup's back, uncertain "I think Red needs another hand, Kup." You send a radio message to Astrotrain: ...Astrotrain? The situation is... extremely confusing, and I suspect that we may all be dead. "I'm fine! I'm fine!" Red Alert protests, and he tries to stand up and walk straight. Then quickly gives up and goes back to leaning on Fireflight. In fact, he leans a little far forward, bringing his head nearer to Kup as well, and whispers one word. Soft, but the Sweeps can probably still hear it: "Confirmed." You receive a radio message from Astrotrain: FINALLY someone answers. Whaddaya mean dead? That's stupid. If I was dead I wouldn't be lookin at pus-ugly humans right now. I always figure the afterlife had a bottomless keg and hundreds of femmes dancing for my enjoyment. You receive a radio message from Astrotrain: And I don't see either one here! You send a radio message to Astrotrain: No, Astrotrain. I think this is Hell. The rock in Lightspeed's path suddenly becomes easier to dig through -- in part because his digging sends him falling into a tunnel. The sound of activity can be heard echoing through it -- coming from nearby. Meanwhile, Motormaster putters toward Astrotrain's position, as the fishing village panics. "Where are the Predacons?!" they yelp in their native tongue. The main group crosses a short tunnel into the main chamber of the cavernous Decepticon base. Despite being seemingly assembled from bits and bobs and whatever parts they could scam into their hands, the base is maintained fairly well -- caverns connected by tunnels, kept as clean as the inside of a cliff face can really be kept. Familiar Decepticon faces mill about -- Baffles the Air Guardian and Goldpaver the Security Officer are exiting a tunnel-gate. "Another supply run -- ugh," Baffles says. "Did you not hear Galvatron, though?" Goldpaver asks, sounding lucid and in full possession of his mental faculties. "All we need to overcome the Autobots is a little energon." "And a lot of luck," Baffles groans. Seeing the incoming group, he jerks a thumb toward the gate. "The big guy's in there," he says. "He's not in the greatest mood, though." Catechism says, "Uh... I think my Astrotrain is here." You receive a radio message from Astrotrain: Hell? Naw. If it were hell I couldn't shoot at fleshies. They're disgustin but it -is- kinda fun to watch em scatter! You receive a radio message from Astrotrain: *random energy discharge noises followed by screams* Haw haw haw! You send a radio message to Astrotrain: The Decepticons here are nice to humans! Even if the humans try to kill them! I'm telling you, this is totally Hell. Red Alert had been leaning forward. Now he suddenly stands straight and looks back instead. He frowns. Then he opens his optics in alarm and starts to pull away from Fireflight. "Astrotrain! Our Astrotrain! He's here! He's attacking some humans!" he shouts wildly. Lightspeed continues his journey through the rock and earth... and right into a tunnel, slamming down and onto the tunnel path and skidding to a stop. He remains there for a bit, not moving or digging now, lost in his own little world. Though the activity doesn't slip by him after a bit. "Huh? Wait, where... did I do this? I must have! Man, I must really have been digging something big today! And Rodimus thinks I can't do anything worth while." He said. Lightspeed turns and begins to drive towards the sound of activity. "I wonder who followed me though. Nosecone I bet, just wanting to taunt and tease me. Just wait till he sees this!" The proverbial record screeches, and all activity stops in the cavern to stare at Red Alert. Kup nods to Red Alert, continuing to follow the path. "Yeah. And Red, you need any help, lemme know. I'm right here for ya." Passing by Baffles and Goldpaver, Kup manages to overhear their conversation, and smirks. "So Galvatron's up past that gate? A'right. Thanks. And good luck with those Autobots, I hear they're a buncha jerks." Giving them a thumbs up in approval, Kup marches up to the gate and looks for a way to open it, a way which hopefully doesn't involve collecting a bunch of nonsensical items and placing them in certain locations on the lock. "Ehm, what?" Kup says to Red Alert. Astrotrain watches the kicked boat turn end over end into the village, and guffaws mightily a moment later, hands even resting on his hips in the process. He discharges a few blasts from his rifle in the direction of the humans, not realy hitting anyone, or anything important for that matter. His mind is on other things. Like the radio buzzing in his audials, and Catechism's voice saying crazy things. His optics narrow slightly as he looks left, then right, forgetting the humans now for the insects he truly considers them to be as he tries to take stock of the situation. "Say -what-?" He says aloud in response on his radio, then scowls. "...nah." You receive a radio message from Astrotrain: Uh, suuuure. Cons bein nice to humans. You sure you feelin alright? Need a checkup? Geist nods to the pair. "Unfortunate, but thanks for the heads up." He notices the hushed brief converse but does not hear what is said. He only glances at Sunder as he continues to make his way in. He is about to open the gate when Red Alert suddenly turns into a spaz. "Settle down right now." He commands. "Where is he?" Fireflight blinks a little, and grabs at the air where Red Alert was - two seconds earlier. Then he blinks, optics brightening again as he realizes what Red Alert said "... What??" He looks now to the other autobot, staring at him. Then all around at the Cavern. Eyes. What to say? He kneels beside Red Alert, to help him back up again. "I'm not sure where," Red Alert admits, frustrated. "By the strength of the signal, not too far, but I don't have the means to triangulate on my own..." Then he truns to glare up at Catechism, then points to her. "Why don't you ask him?" Catechism looks over at Red Alert, feeling like a goober for forgetting that Red Alert can intercept radios. (It's in her contract, as a Decepticon. She has to meet a certain goober quota every week, which includes forgetting what Autobots can do and forgetting that she can fly.) She snaps, "Why don't /you/ ask him, hmm?" Astrotrain is of course unaware of Red Alert and listening in to local signals and all that stuff. You receive a radio message from Astrotrain: C'mon! What's all the silence about! This is stupid enough with no one else listening! They all packed up and went back to Charr again or something didn't they? Typical! Geist sighs. "Perhaps it has something to do with the anomolous reading Motormaster spoke of and is investigating. Have faith in him." He stands between the m-autobots and Catechism. "And if you lot don't mind, I'll ask you to cease embarrassing me for trusting you enough to bring you here. Can you all try to act your age?" Spirited Geist says, "Motormaster. Our guests report hearing something of a Decepticon from their world causing trouble with \" "Because he wouldn't answer me!" Red Alert sniffs as he struggles back to his feet, accepting Fireflight's support once more. Then he turns to frown at Geist. "My age? My age? So just how old do you have to get to stop caring when you hear the sounds of people screaming?" Catechism says, "I /said/ that I think my Astrotrain is here!" Kup rubs his temples, as if he has a massive headache. "Unnh. Let the Decepticons from *this* world handle it. We got a job to do. Astrotrain's a pest, but if he's alone, he shouldn't be too hard for 'em to deal with. And for the record, if I acted my age, I'd be *dead.*" Grumbling, he opens the gate and walks inside. Motormaster rumbles, "En route still, but getting close. Can't help it if we all have different speeds..." Spirited Geist says, "Motormaster. Our guests report hearing something of a Decepticon from their world causing trouble with villagers... if by chance this turns out to be what you are looking into, please relay confirmation so we may put our guests minds at ease that you are on it." Spirited Geist says, "Acknowledged. Good luck." Motormaster rumbles, "Thanks, comrade." Fireflight sighs tiredly, thining his lips as he helps Red Alert up, nudging him a little "Not now please." he murmers softly to Red, probably having as much invested in this meeting as Geist did. Is this what its like being 'adult'? He hoped not. Sixshot says, "What's this?" You send a radio message to Astrotrain: Astrotrain, if you're... killing humans or wrecking property or whatever? Please knock it off. I suspect that the local Decepticons will tar and feather you, and you do /not/ want to meet the local Autobots. Sunder sighs heavily at the disturbance. "Can't we all just get along?" he moans. He looks desperately in need of hugz. Catechism sighs and radios Astrotrain, telling him to knock it off. It hurts, precious. It hurts. Fireflight does too, but this wouldnt be a good time probably. The tunnel leads Lightspeed very, very close indeed -- to the sound of the gate whooshing open, and a tall, dark figure emerging. Galvatron, battered and rusted, limps out of the portal, his body seemingly jury-rigged into continued function. He doesn't look like he's about to fall apart -- but he does look like he's seen the wrong end of the fight one too many times. "Indeed, Sunder," the Decepticon leader rasps. "I myself have asked the same question many times. Now then -- who would like to introduce me to our guests?" Meanwhile, near Astrotrain, the familiar shape of Motormaster approaches. <> he radios back. <> "Ho there, friend!" Motormaster calls, transforming and holding a hand out. "What's the problem here?" Red Alert mutters to himself, something about how it's perfectly all /right/ for him to be concerned when there's an actual problem, and it's perfectly /reasonable/ to assume there's a problem, because there often is. Still, he lets himself be escorted in, following along behind Kup. Sixshot doesn't sound very pleased. "Motormaster, if there is resistance inform me. No more harm is to come to settlement." Motormaster rumbles, "Roger that, sir." Moving forwards, Fireflight stops shortly, all concerns vanishing as he stares at... Galvatron. Okay, it was a rather beat up Galvatron, but it was still GALVATRON. Galvatron. Cannoner of Transformers... A recent memory of being Superion and struck by it flitted through his mind, the green aerialbot shivering. Galvatron. He then glances to Red and Kup, moving forwards as the Security Director needed him to, still staring at Galvatron. Galvatron. Speaking of cannons, of note: This Galvatron does not have one. Fireflight is too distracted by Galvatron to notice any cannons, or lack thereof. Padding out from behind Galvatron, was Sixshot. Red optics burning with curiousity and some wariness, his wings withdrawn behind him out of the way. He was here in a protective capacity, that and he wanted to know more about these...curious 'not' Autobots. There was no gentle impression from what could only be the sixchanger from memory, though there was definately more restraint. Geist steps forward, starts to look like he's going to introduce them, and then looks like he changes his mind. "It's probably better if they introduce themselves... suffice it to say, strangers from a strange land." He turns to the m-autobots and m-decepticon, giving a nod. Catechism turns around and drops to her knees in a sweeping bow, her face practically hitting the floor. Battered and buffeted by tide and time, that is still Galvatron, even if he looks a bit different - and bowing is a survival reflex in the Empire. She murmurs, "I am Catechism, but... not your Catechism, my lord. The last thing I knew before ending up here, The Fallen, an ancient enemy of our people, had condemned me to the hell for special traitors, so I have to admit - I strongly suspect that I am dead and this is the Pit." Astrotrain is about to rant and rave at Catechism some more on the radio, possibly even making questionable suggestions about her creator, when he hears a familiar voice behind him! He turns in place, silhouetted by the flames of a burning building behind him, glaring full on at the Stunticon leader! "Well it's about FRAGGIN time!" he finally exclaims. No, despite Catechism's attempts to explain the situation to him, the triplechanger is quite simply not 'getting it' to put it. He advances a few steps, one foot coming down on a truck belonging to one of the local fishermen. Thankfully, it is empty, but the vehicle is crushed into so much tinfoil under the big triplechanger's weight. "I've been hootin and hollarin into the radio like a dope and gettin a whole lotta silence until now! Where the -frag- is everybody!?" He angrily demands, waving his rifle about for emphasis. "And who the frag's been slackin off? Lookit all these fleshbags gettin cozy! It's like they didn't even think I was gonna do something to them at first!" Kup backs away from Galvatron, optics widened. Getting past the other Decepticons without springing into action was hard enough, but *Galvatron?* And there was Sixshot with him, too, and Kup has very recently brawled with the Six-Changer on Monacus. "Ehh. Hello," Kup hisses out, fists balled up. "I'm, uh... I'm Kup. Heard I was dead. Well, lemme just say, where I come from, I ain't dead." What else can he say? He isn't sure. Really, he's too busy trying to calm himself in what his millenia of experience tells him ought to be a den of vipers. Lightspeed continues down the tunnel, almost driving by the others but quickly turning around to stop and stare at the group assembled there now. Kup, whom he had only heard about but not seen, Red Alert, and a whole bunch of Decepticons. The M-Technobot remains sitting there in his car mode now, seeming as if he was now deep in thought, his processor running at its full power to crunch the numbers and try to come up with reasons for all of this to be true. In truth, he was still in his fantasy of digging deeper and deeper in to the earth and enjoying himself to even fully realize who was all was there. Red Alert takes a moment to sniff at the air once, then twice. Then he turns and looks off in a seemingly random direction... save that it doesn't seem quite so random when Lightspeed suddenly shows himself, coming from that exact direction. "I'm... uhm... I..." Red Alert forgets completely about introducing himself. :( Fireflight of course, does not notice Lightspeed at all. Still holding Red Alert up, he stares at Galvatron, before speaking. cause when Galvatron asks a question, you ANSWER "... I'm Fireflight... repainted. I got tired of being mistaken for this worlds' Fireflight." he then tilts his head in the direction of Red Alert "This is our universe' Red Alert... I think he hears something important. He does that a lot." Fireflight of course, does not notice Lightspeed at all. Still holding Red Alert up, he stares at Galvatron, before speaking. cause when Galvatron asks a question, you ANSWER "... I'm Fireflight... repainted. I got tired of being mistaken for this worlds' Fireflight." he then tilts his head in the direction of Red Alert "This is our universe' Red Alert... I think he hears something important. He does that a lot." Sunder stands quietly as the m-autobots and m-con have their audience with Galvatron. He says nothing, allowing the others to speak. If Galvatron wants to ask him anything, he is ready to respond with what he knows. Sixshot came to a halt a little infront and to the side of Galvatron before sitting with a languid ease belonging more to a feline than a canine. Of those new gathered, Kup was placed soundly at the top for being a forseeable problem. He could recognise fraying nerves, and the last thing anyone wanted was violence in the chamber. The sixchanger still kept an 'ear' out so to speak for updates on the other unfurling situation, but patiently waited for orders from the Decepticon leader if he was needed. Short of an unprovoked assault on their end, there was nothing to fear from Sixshot. Meanwhile, away: Motormaster is flabbergasted by Astrotrain. "You wear our insignia -- but you behave like an autocratic Autobot! Explain yourself, sir," the indignant Stunticon leader demands, pointing a finger accusingly. Inside the caverns: Galvatron looks over all present, noting their reactions -- before his eyes settle on the Earth-1 Autobots, and Catechism's bow. "Really, now," the benevolent old mech croaks, waving a hand at Catechism, "enough of that. I am no one's lord. In the Decepticons, all are equal." Galvatron's attention returns to the Autobots. "Kup, eh? And Fireflight. And... I would wager from how easily distracted you seem -- that you," he says, pointing to Red Alert, "are Sideswipe. I am Galvatron -- and I have heard of your plight. But not enough. Nowhere near enough. Tell me /where/ you are from, if you would be so kind as to... indulge an old robot." You receive a radio message from Astrotrain: Uh...hey Catechism? Red Alert is still looking back towards where he can hear Lightstpeed, but really, he has more important things to fret about, doesn't he? Finally he turns back and sighs. "It happens more often than you'd think," he admits. Especially when Sideswipe has painted himself like Red Alert for pranking purposes. You send a radio message to Astrotrain: Not now, I'm talking to Galvatron! You receive a radio message from Astrotrain: Oh good. If you could uh, describe him in one word right now, what would it be? Geist optic brow lifts as he turns to see... Lightspeed. Not on his list of known friendly Autobots. "Excuse me..." He steps away from the group and towards Lightspeed. "Excuse me." You send a radio message to Astrotrain: Injured. Catechism rises from her bow. She already explained that she thinks she's dead and stuck in the Pit, but then - somehow, despite being underground, she senses that the Catechism Signal is being shined in the sky. What now, has Timmy fallen down the well? Very disgruntled, Catechism leaves to go pull Timmy out of the well again. Being a good guy ain't all it's cracked up to be. Kup's optics narrow. "Right... I'm Kup. Wish I coulda met my alternate self, here, and killed 'im, but the Rodimus YOU know beat me to it. The guys a fraggin' psycho. But the Rodimus Prime *I* know is nuthin' like that. Yeah, he's hot-headed and a little full of himself sometimes, but he's courageous, selfless, and would never stop to help someone in need. Confused? Well, now you know how I feel." He nods over at Catechism. "I dunno what crack she's on, but her, me, Red, Fireflight, Springer, and maybe others were around when something blasted a big hole in reality and we fell right through it into some kind of alternate reality. How it happened, and how we can get back, ain't a subject I know too much about. Suffice it to say, we need yer help." Sunder's alerted to Lightspeed's uninvited presence and heads towards him, to determine where he was from and whether he was from the same place as Catechism and Kup and the others. Tumbleweeds roll past as a silence settles down while Astrotrain stares back at Motormaster, his lower jaw hitting the ground. This is interesting for two reasons, first being that tumbleweeds are from the Old West, not from Africa, and that Astrotrain's jaw -literally- hits the ground with a metallic *CLANK*. He has to literally reach down to scoop it up and put it back into place. "Wha...but I didn't, but you...they..." he starts, then points at the burning building, then to Motormaster, then pauses. "...one second." He pauses, tilting his head to one side, a brief radio transmission exchange taking place, then finally giving way to silence once more. Oh so sloooowly, his optics shift back towards Motormaster again, studying the big Stunticon leader for a long passing moment. "Ah geez..." he finally states, rubbing the back of his head slowly, lowering his rifle and suddenly looking more than a bit sheepish. "...look, I'm feelin a little messed up here. There's been ALOT of wierd stuff goin on and I dunno if my head's on straight. Sorry about that...cool?" And with that, he extends his free hand towards Motormaster in a shaking gesture! "An alternate reality," Galvatron muses, stroking his chin. "Such things are not foreign to us -- I remember when a group of... I believe they were Aztecs, called the Pacifists attempted to stage a cross-dimensional rescue effort, some years ago, before the Autobots killed them." Kup rubs his forehead. "Wait, lemme guess... and they were opposed by a group called... the Malefactors?" "Avalanche," adds Red Alert, looking at Kup, then back up at Galvatron. "Our Avalanche is in this reality, too. I could tell by the way he seemed to expect Grimlock to talk. You'll need to be careful of him." His optics open wide at the references to the 'Pacifists,' then he glances back at Kup. "So you encountered them too?" Galvatron asks. Meanwhile, near Lightspeed, Slugfest slowly trundles up, and -- by pure chance -- spies the infiltrator. "What the--" the tiny stegosaurus blurts. "AAAUUUTOOOBAAAWWWTTT!" He tries to run for the alarm, but because he is Slugfest, he is both slow and can't reach it /anyway/. Sixshot suddenly turned his head in the same direction Red Alert had been peering at, if his ears moved they'd have flicked. Instead of running out to get more information, he remained mostly because there were /still/ three Autobots in the room with Galvatron. At the human settlement, Motormaster smiles. "That's more like it. Seems there's been a case of it going around -- laws of reality going crazy on everyone. Don't worry -- you're in good hands now." The noble, beloved Stunticon extends a hand to grip Astrotrain's firmly. Fireflight continues supporting Red Alert now, falling silent, letting the other Autobots do all the talking. Straightening, he merelysupports Red Alert, turning his head the opposite of everyone elses' before the echo from Slugfest came in. He then looks to Kup, and Red Alert, and their hosts "... Did you want me to go help?" he offers, feeling rather useless. Kup's face looks ever so pained. "Nnnnh. Nah, I haven't met 'em, it's just that the two sides were called Militants and Benefactors where I come from. Oh, and the EDC's friendly, too. Hell, I met Andi Lassiter when you guys left yesterday." He says this more to Red Alert and Fireflight than to Galvatron. "She fraggin' tried to capture me! Geeze. Makes me wonder what the Protectorate was like. Probably sat all around all day sniffin' flowers..." He overhears Slugfest yelling about Autobawts, and just sighs. "I need a drink. I need it bad." Astrotrain's grip is firm! And he gives a solid shake, even a smirk coming on his own features. "Yeah it's really interesting, ya know?" There is a subtle shift of his other arm, and a moment later, the barrel of his rifle gives an audible *TINK* as it is placed firly into Motormaster's mouth, the look on Astrotrain's features turning into something downright malicious. "It's interestin cause the Motormaster -I- know woulda joined in the festivities and just as soon tore my arm off!" And just like that...Astrotrain squeezes the trigger, his rifle emitting a thick *KRA-BWOOOM!* as it goes off at full power! Lightspeed remains where he is still, not moving as the Decepticons began to move, both at him and to alert the others. He then shifted and transformed into robot mode and looked around a bit. "Why are there 'Cons here? This doesn't make sense." The Technobot said. Lightspeed walked over to Slugfest, trying to figure out where he was, which was a bit harder for him to do than it might be if his processor wasn't busy. "Say... where am I exactly?" "HE'S GOING TO KILL ME!" the cowardly, nonviolent Slugfest shrieks. "SOMEONE -- HELP!" Red Alert stops looking back at the wall, from which Slugfest's shoutings can now clearly be heard, only to open his optics wide and once more look just generally 'up.' Then he lowers his gaze to watch Galvatron and Sixshot in order to see how they will react. The urge to act is strong himself, and Fireflight, who still has to support him, might notice that he's quite tense. Sixshot suddenly got to his feet, and growled deeply in what can most certainly be called a threatning manner. There was no reply, and the indecision left him torn. Not only for Slugfest, but what had occured not so far away. "Your orders Galvatron." Murmuring, he needed them to act, because he couldn't choose. Fireflight flinches at the call and looks at Red Alert, and then Kup again. HE feels how tense Red Alert is, and quietly steps away, making sure Red Alert can stand fully. He then glances to Kup "... I'll go and uh, see what's up." he offers, again. Galvatron turns to where the commotion is. "Damn -- I'm not armed! Sixshot -- defend the extradimensionals! Where one Technobot goes, more can't be far behind!" The Decepticon peacelord turns, reachng for an alarm button that sends klaxons blaring and red lights flashing. "Damn it -- we're not prepared for an invasion, and he's no doubt transmitting his coordinates! Prepare to evacuate!" Meanwhile, the back of Motormaster's skull decorates the landscape, as the humans scream. Kup sighs. "Alright. I'll go with ya, lad. I wanna see if it's one of OUR Autobots, or one of theirs." He tromps off to investigate the disturbance, cracking his knuckles. Geist rumbles. "Shall we attempt to apprehend?" Fireflight nods and glances to Galvatron and the others, waving a hand at Geist "Let us look at it first. If anything, they may not 'shoot first, then ask questions' when they see us." he notes, turning then... to jog on ahead of KUp and the others, his rifle coming into form in his hand as he enters the tunnel, feet clacking loudly on the ground as he follows the echoes "Hang on! We're coming!" Astrotrain pulls his weapon free, as Motormaster's body crumples to the ground in short order. A tendril of smoke rises from the triplechanger's barrel, his rifle pointed at the sky as he looks over his handiwork. Is Motormaster dead? He may very well be, or he may somehow miraculously survive it all. Transformer survival is a fickle thing, some suffering total body obliteration while others die from shoulder wounds. "It's kinda funny..." he can't help but smirk, revelling in the feeling of the humans scattering after the fall of their 'hero'. "...I probably woulda enjoyed that -just- as much if it was the other you!" Geist warily considers the possibility that one of his 'guests' is responsible for the unknown intruder. Did /Galvatron/ just order /Sixshot/ to defend Red Alert, Kup, and Fireflight? Because that sure sounded like it! Not that Fireflight and Kup appear to care to be defended. Red Alert tries to follow after to help, then stumbles. He says, a bit sheepishly, "I'll, erm, wait back here, guys." Then he glances up at Galvatron. "But it sounds like your Motormaster may be in trouble, too." Lightspeed pulled out his Light-Burst Gun, pointing it at Slugfest. "I won't kill you. I mean... well, I will if you don't give me what I want to know. Its not that hard, right?" He said. Lightspeed most likely would be true to that word, killing Slugfest if he doesn't give him the information. He would most likely harm the cassette bot either way as it was. "So again... where am I?" Snapping once at the in frustration, Sixshot stalked towards the other Autobots, pausing by Red Alert as he stumbled-- was he offering...support? "He has not responded, I worry if what the other, Catechism, said is true about that one. He went to confront him alone, there are humans still there!" Defenseless. Looking down the way Kup and Fireflight went, he hesitated, orders were orders... "If you want to join your friends, you may climb on. But know if you remain behind and you attempt to harm Galvatron...I will be back for you." And that wasnt a threat, but a promise. Red Alert's jaw drops. He shakes his head in a sharp, jagged manner, then reports, "Astrotrain's still trying to communicate on his normal channels. He just... just boasted about 'decorating the landscape with the inside of Motormaster's head.'" Sunder looks at Geist, then at Galvatron, listening for confirmation of orders. His talons flex nervously. He may have to use them. Sixshot hissed, clearly angered. ARound the corner the Camo Green Fireflight runs suddenly, his weapon up. Then, he skids to a halt, lights flashing on his wings as he drops to a knee and focuses on his 'friend' "Hey! Hold your fire, Lightspeed!" he calls out. He sounded like Fireflight, had the right shape, but his color was... wrong. Slugfest blurts, fearing for his life, "THE DECEPTICON HEADQUARTERS AAAAH HELP ME HELP ME DECEPTICONS HELP!" Red Alert does not accept the support from Sixshot. "I'm in no condition to harm anyone, but you've got a job to do, Sixshot. Don't worry about keeping me safe, and for my part, I won't hurt anyone." Seriously. If Galvatron stares hard enough at Red Alert he might fall over. Kup looks, mouth open, at Red Alert. "How the frag can Astrotrain beat Motormaster that fast? I mean, Astro's good, but Motormaster's one of the toughest Decepticons around! What did he do, try to hug the guy, then Astrotrain stuffed a bomb in his mouth? Geeze!" By now, Kup has made it to Lightspeed, and with as much anger as he can muster, he points a finger at the Technobot and yells, "YOU!" Lightspeed shifts and changes into his sleek and dashing robot self. Sixshot relented reluctantly, and bounded on to swiftly catch up with the rest confronting Lightspeed-- Autobot of this world or the other. That remained to be seen, but hopefully the determination could be made soon so that Motormaster's possible termination, could be addressed. Lightspeed heard his name being called, followed by the info that he wanted. And then Kup showing up and pointing at him. "Huh? Fireflight? Is that you? And Kup? What's going on here?" The Technobot said. Then it finally dawned on him that Kup was angry and yelling at him. "Uh... um... I... just messed something up again, didn't I? What are you two doing at Decepticon HQ anyways? For that matter, why are you painted like that Fireflight?" Fireflight keeps his gun aimed, but lowers it a little. He looks at Slugfest and blinks "Take cover!" he hisses quietly, guesturing the tape away then back to Lightspeed. "..." he thinks a little bit, then states "I'm undercover. Shhh, dont say a THING on radio or anything or you'll get us all killed!" Kup squints at Fireflight, then at Lightspeed. "Yeeeaahhh. We're undercover. That's where I've been for 24 years, ya see. Makin' the Decepticons think I'm one of 'em. But, yeah, if you call us out on the radio, they're gonna intercept it, and, uh, well. We'll be screwed." He glances at Slugfest, who is still within earshot, that slow bastard. Well, hopefully such a detail will not occur to this version of Lightspeed. Astrotrain finds himself relatively surrounded by silence once more! And now he needs to take stock of the situation. "Now...lemme think this over." Okay this should be good. He walks around Motormaster's fallen frame, putting one boot on the fallen Decepticon's chestplate, peering at the symbol emblazoned on his shoulder, identical to Astrotrain's own. "...so, if this place, wherever the frag this is, the Cons are all goody goody, that mean that the Autobots are badaft now?" A moment passes, as he tries to envision Rodimus Prime as a tyrannical type. "...feh. I'll believe it when I see it. Maybe this means Junkions are al easy to understand too..." He peers about at the fishing village again, optics narrowing as he continues to think this over deeply. One can almost see the smoke coming out of his audials. As the displaced Autobots meet one of their nefarious counterparts and Slugfest continues to trundle to safety, Galvatron is ensuring all of his men make it to the escape tunnels. "Erase all of the memory banks in the computers," he orders Ratbat. "Physically destroy the records if we have to -- the Autobots cannot catch us -- not again." "What about you, Galvatron?" asks the highly motivated, extremely caring Snapdragon. "Don't worry about me, my friend -- I'm going to find our transdimensional visitors and make sure we get them out, too. They may be the big break we've been waiting for." Lightspeed stands there for a bit. He seems to actually be processing the information. "You mean... I've been underground for 24 years?" He finally says, lowering his weapon and not paying Slugfest any more attention. "Does Rodimus still rule, or did someone kill him? There's so much I could have missed." "Something like that." Fireflight states, his gun lowering a little bit "He's still in charge. LIsten, we're gonna be caught any minute here, so you should probably go back the way you came." he points "And remember, you saw NOTHING. we'll take it from here." Kup stares at Lightspeed. "Yeeaaaahhh. You've been underground for 24 years. Everything's changed and all. Rodimus died. Arcee gutted 'im. Turns out, Tailgate's running the show, now." He nods sagely. If Lightspeed actually believes that, Kup will be very, very sad. Kup nods sagely. "Yep. Just turn right around. We'll take care of this, lad, don't you worry. Oh, and remember, I'm still dead as far as you know." Red Alert limps closer to the exit and listens to the conversation between Kup, Fireflight, and Lightspeed but doesn't show himself. The Lightspeed he knows is generally a reliable, level headed sort, but for some reason thinks Red Alert needs someone to watch over him (feh!). This one seems clueless! "Right, right. I'm not that stupid, Kup." Lightspeed said. Well, he was for talking to Kup like that. Or at least he would be if it was Mirror Kup. Lightspeed does start on his way back down the tunnel, seeming clueless about things. Nope, not aware of a thing. It seems as if the Lightspeed present belonged to their world, but through some twist, the Autobots who'd come to see them was managing to...trick him? If for only that reason alone, Sixshot hung back, waiting. Listening to every word said, it wouldn't take much to call him forth. In the meantime, he's listening out for some indication that Motormaster is still alive...a task in futility. Fireflight sighs a little in relief, lifting his gun in a salute to Lightspeed as the other Autobot retreats. He watches, then looks at Kup "... Back up. I'll close this off just in case." he notes, and then backs up himself to fire at the ceiling over the tunnel where Lightspeed had dissapeared. Geist activates his cloak and decides to go look for Motormaster. He slips by all and exits the long hidden compoud, transforming to Sweepcraft mode and using his radar. With no flourish or time wasted, Geist transforms into the spacefaring Sweepcraft mode. Motormaster's body continues to lay sprawled on the ground, half in the water -- he is not making exceptional conversation. As the Lightspeed Crisis is averted, Galvatron rushes up to Red Alert. "Your friends -- are they all right?" the Decepticon leader asks the AUtobot. Kup frowns. "I dunno. I feel like I shoulda taken him out. He seemed totally oblivious to what was goin' on. But, well, yeah, go ahead, lad. Seal the tunnel off. I don't think these guys are gonna stay here for too long." Astrotrain considers the situation some more, then proceeds to tear something off of Motormaster's downed frame, tucking it into a storage compartment. "Well then!" he exclaims, straightening up, his optics narrowing as he studies the nearby village and considers, leaving the Stunticon's body laying where it fell. "..this'd probably be alot easier if Blitz was here. I'm gonna need to get fuel and find some way to fix myself, then decide where I'm gonna go..." Well he can solve -one- of those problems right now, hopefully, turning and lumbering back into the fishing community. Fishing boats and cars use fuel, and sure enough there is a very small, local gas station. The attendant is quickly ejected from the premesis as Astrotrain tears the roof off the shack next to it, reaching in and delicately pushing the button needed to unlock the underground tanks. "...never thought I'd wish Octane was here either," he complains. Red Alert turns towards Galvatron as the Decepticon leader approaches him. Thus, it's his words and not his arrival that throws Red Alert off. He nods. "They're fine. They've, erm, talked the other Autobot into leaving. The voice matched Lightspeed, but he didn't sound like ours. They're trying to seal the tunnel he came in by." It's all happening pretty much outside the door he's standing next to, anyway. Fireflight nods and fires again for good measure to seal the tunnel "... You feel like you should take almost EVERYone out dont you Kup? " he asks with a weary grin. Then a timer on his radio goes off, beeping in his ear. He pauses, face growing long and sad. "... Let's get back to Galvatron and Red Alert. I want to get home." Sweepcraft makes quicker time of reaching the village than Motormaster, his scans hunting for the silenced friend and the possible new arrival. Fireflight and Kup would have to pass Sixshot in the corridor where he had been waiting, listening in on their conversation the entire time. He had sharper ears than most as he was, and refrained from making a comment to the 'take almost everyone out'. Their actions had proven something more. Either this was all an elabourate hoax, or it was true. And he was beginning to really believe the latter atlast, but they were still strangers. The scene is pretty much as it appears, Motormaster's downed frame half in the river, half on the shoreline. Truth be told to Kup's assessment, the Stunticon never saw it coming. Just how Astrotrain likes it! For the moment, the triplechanger stands, one end of the fuel pump in hand as he quite literally pumps raw gasoline into his open mouth, swallowing it down. It's a crude and inefficient way of doing it, but his systems are capable of processing it all the same. "...still wish I had this in cube form." He grumbles. "And home... we shall send you," Galvatron says, standing in the doorway, near Red Alert. "We're lucky that the Autobot you encountered was one of the bumbling halfwits Rodimus surrounds himself with to ensure he's always the smartest man in the room -- but all the same, he'll tell his comrades, and they'll be here sooner than you think. All of you -- you... visitors from another universe," Galvatron says. "From what I've heard, it may not be easy. But I need you to trust me. Come with me and my men as we flee to a safer location -- help us in our effort to dethrone the mad tyrant Rodimus Prime -- and in return, we shall do whatever we can, my Decepticons and I, to put you back on your own world. For I would not dare subject anyone, foe or friend, to the hell that my Decepticons are forced to endure." Lightspeed stopped not long after Fireflight had sealed up the path behind him. Amazingly, his data processors actually managed to get word in through him. "Hey... that wasn't Kup. He'd have killed me for that remark!" Turning back around, the Technobot began to fire on the collapsed tunnel behind him. He wasn't trying to get through really, just venting frustration. Much like Galvatron says, Lightspeed will radio the others, but most likely not until its too late to stop the Decepticons. Fireflight stops short as Galvatron appears. Again, he moved to Red Alert's side, offering his hand to support the other mech without asking. He then nods at Galvatron's words, and then looks to Kup and Red Alert... half hopeful, as the timer beeps in his ear again. He grimaces, finally reaching up to tap it off, muttering something under his breath. Fireflight mutters to himself, "... Brothers" Red Alert misinterprets the sound of Lightspeed firing, and looks up at Kup and Fireflight. "Erm... Lightspeed sounds like he's trying to come back in. He seems to have figured out that you're not Kup. His Kup, anyway." He looks up at Galvatron's words, then looks towards Kup, looking to the elder to make the decision. Kup nods at Fireflight. "Yeah. Though it ain't gonna be as easy as wishin' for it, lad. Let's go talk to... uh... Galvatron." He rejoins Red Alert a moment later, and frowns as he considers Galvatron's words. "Go with you, huh? That's awful generous of you, you know. Still, how can you trust us so much? Fer all you know this is some crazy scheme to get you people into a trap. That's the first thing I'd be thinking in your situation." Kup chuckles, "Took 'im long enough." "Kup, you must understand," Galvatron says gravely. "Consider the state of my people. Forced to live in caves -- and even then we are not safe." His red eyes gleam, but there is a touch of despair in his words. "Of course it may be a trap -- but how is that any less dangerous than any /other/ course we may take?" Sweepcraft passes over the body of Motormaster, unseen like a ghost. And he hunts for the perpetrator. Astrotrain satisfies himself with topping up his own internal fuel reserves, pausing to consider if there's any way he can possibly take the fuel tank with him. Of course, even if he could, getting it out of the ground would be far too much work and take far too long at this point. It was time to make his exit, stage left if possible. With that, the triplechanger shifts and transforms, dropping down onto his huge steel wheels as he begins to trundle through the village, crushing through a house on his way out, picking up speed as he starts to find the open areas. And with him, he carries the 'trophy' from Motormaster's downed frame...his Decepticon insignia. Spinning and shifting parts result in Astotrain's heavy locomotive form taking shape. Sweepcraft finds his quarry easily enough as astrotrain is huge and is not trying to be sneaky at all. He uncloaks above Astrotrain and shortranges, > Fireflight glances to the debris there, and moves immediately to the end right by it, to stand watch while the others talk, although his mind seemed elsewhere. Glancing one way then another, and giving a soft sigh Sunder hangs back in the Hunt, allowing the Unseen Geist to find the murderer. When he sees that Astrotrain is the culprit--and more likely than not, the Astrotrain from that other world, he speeds over to Geist to show a united front. But he lets Geist do the talking for now, in case his twin has a plan up his sleeve. Aquiesces to allow the Sweeps to their job, following along with Galvatron and the other Autobots. Sixshot remained alert incase Lightspeed managed on through, or the arrival of other allies of his. "What the frag...?" Astrotrain starts as his sensors pick up the sweep's sudden arrival. A moment passes, a silence from the triplechanger. He has reason to be suspicious now. Ironically, if they had done this act on him before he'd run into Motormaster, he'd have fell for it like a ton of bricks. "Yeeeeah, well he was askin for it!" He states carefully, thick tendrils of smoke belching from his stack as he continues to rumble along the open ground right now. "What do you two want anyway!?" Kup hms, scratching his chin. "I see your point. Well. If you've got another refuge, then let's not waste anymore time." Glancing at Red Alert with a look of concern, Kup asks the security director, "How's your legs? Ehm, more importantly, can you drive? I know you were hopin' to get fixed but I don't think we're gonna get the chance." "... I can carry you two again if you want "Fireflight offers form where he stood, optics straying from the rocks in front of him to look back at the others. his optics were still darkened. "I can still transform," Red Alert answers Kup, "though it hurts, and I can roll a lot better than I can walk." Then Fireflight offers them a ride again. Red Alert holds up his hands, eyes wide in panic at the thought. "Nonononono! Hopefully that won't be necessary!" A sudden, uncharacteristic scowl covers Fireflight's face, the optics brightening again. He turns to look back at the rocks once more "Fine." Sweepcraft sounds like he's smiling, <> His plan is simple, treat the foreign offender the way he treated Motormaster. The emblem torn away... Motormasters body showing no sign of struggle. No weapon drawn. His weapon ports slide open and a pair of barrels protrude. <> He opens fire. "If you're coming, then let's go -- if need be you can hitch a ride on Snapdragon's back, Red Alert. He's always been the cleanest of us all." Galvatron turns and begins to hobble toward the escape. "Still -- time's of the essence. You have given me your trust, my friends -- and I will die before I fail to repay it." Galvatron then disappears into the tunnel. Sweepcraft is like Harrison Ford in The Witness. Geist misses Locomotive with his Automatic Fire Rock 'n Roll attack. Red Alert proves his word, as he transforms, practically falling down into his alternate mode. He follows along with the others, and if he can't quite reach top speed... well, this probably isn't the place for that, anyway. Fireflight stalks along behind until they reach outside, never saying a word or anything, avoiding optic contact with anyone. Locomotive has at least one thing going for him that Motormaster didn't. He was suspicious right off the bat, and the instant the energy blasts tear out from Geist's weapons, the triplechanger explodes forward in acceleration, thick flames blasting from his rocket boosters as he picks up speed at a furious pace, the shots stitching into the ground just behind him. A moment later, he transforms and lifts off as his shuttle wings catch some air. He's barely lifted off before he transforms again, a tribute to speedy triplechanger mode-changes as he decelerates rapidly in mid-air. "Haw! So it's true!" he states, turning in mid-air to meet the oncoming sweep, one huge foot rising up as he literally tries to kick it into Geist's fuselage, using a combination of his size, strength and the mirror-Decepticon's momentum to try and do some damage. "Not that I liked you sweeps much anyway but believe me, back where I come from? You'd probably be -thankin- me for doin this to yer alternate self!" In a chorus of shifting and spinning parts, Astrotrain's body spins and lifts up into his large robot mode. Astrotrain misses Sweepcraft with his kick attack. Red Alert has left. Lightspeed has left. Sweepcraft out-manuevers the robot-moded Astrotrain with patience and fore-thought. <> Ambiguous? The vessel circles and slides across the air in almost impossible to believe ways. A swarm of golden glowing stinger drones flies from his weapon ports and head towards Astrotrain. Geist misses Astrotrain with his Stringer Drone Swarm attack. Sunder moves in for the attack. "You will not get away with doing that to our beloved Motormaster," he says, baring his talons. He moves as if to swoop down on Astrotrain, but at the last moment pulls up and then activates his headcannon. Sunder strikes Astrotrain with Headcannon blast. Astrotrain isn't one to sit idly as the drones come towards him! While some whiney fourteen year old kid in a mecha might stand there and dramatically shoot the drones out of the air, Astrotrain takes a more unconventional approach, diving straight down out of the air and hitting the water along the river with a heavy splash and a miniature tidal wave that rolls outwards in all directions. He ducks under a bridge overpass, sending the drones crashing against its surface, though thankfully there's no drivers on it at the moment. One thing is clear, he doesn't give a hoot about property damage or those caught up in the fight in the process. When he emerges from the other side, the shot from Sunder's head mounted weapon lances across his shoulder, causing him to grunt for a moment and turn back. "Oh ho, it's two against one, is it? Some things never change!" For a moment, he lifts his weapon, pointing it at one sweep, then the other one, then finally smirks. "Sorry buckos, I may be out of my element here, but I still play by my rules! Catch you later!" And with that, he lifts off again, transforming and going -ballistic- as he rockets straight upwards, putting all power into his thrusters as he gains altitude. "Maybe I -will- pay Rodimus a visit here, he might have turned into my kind of mech! HAW HAW HAW! Give my regards to Menasor!" Parts spin, components shift and Astrotrain's body grows in size until he is an enormous space shuttle. Astrotrain begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Sweepcraft . Sixshot has left. Sweepcraft gives as much chase as he can as he fires up his Lightning generator and lashes out an arch of electricity after the cowardly Astrotrain. <> Geist misses Decepticon Shuttle with his Lightning attack. Decepticon Shuttle rolls hard to one side, the lightning lancing over his form and just past his left wing, dissipating into the air beyond. "What's that!?" He catcalls behind him. Some things never change alright. "I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of how awesome I am! Haw haw haw!" And just like that, the shuttle is blazing a path across the sky as he climbs his way towards orbit. He's using a fair chunk of energy in doing this, and will have to replenish his stocks sooner or later, but for now, it's energy well spent. Sweepcraft returns to the village, scooping up water from the river and putting out fires in fly-bys while Decepticon gumbies fetch Motormaster, dead or alive. Sweepcraft does likewise. <> he shortranges to Geist. <> Sunder's head disappears into his chest, his wings fold around him, and now he is in Sweepcraft mode, his headcannon still visible. Sweepcraft considers. He finally decides. <> <> Sweepcraft replies. Fireflight was currently stalking across the terrain near the new secret base. He walked alone, tapping at his datapadd. Every now and then, he glances up at the sky, optics bright pinpoints of light. Then they dim, and he continues along until he finds a quiet seeming place. The darkness of night enfolded him and he took a seat there, only his padd's light now lighting up the area. Folding arms under his legs he stared down at it, now beginning immobility. Sunder returns from chasing Astrotrain, and his enhanced senses find Fireflight in the quiet place. He transforms and lands there. "Would you not rather rest in our base?" he wonders. Fireflight starts, optics glancing up to peer at Sunder in startlement. THen he sighs "No, not really. Its too noisy there... everyone's still unpacking and stuff." he explains, his green face black in the moonless night. The padds' display flickers, showing video recordings it seems "I just felt like I had to think some. I do that a lot - usually I'd fly, but its too dangerous here. So I sit. And... think." optics back to the padd once more "Ahhh," Sunder says, "I know the feeling. Sometimes the freedom of flight is the best medicine for a troubled core. But it is dangerous outside, nonetheless. That is why our base is hidden. I offer to help keep you safe this night, and be on lookout while you recharge." Fireflight smiles a little, glancing up at Sunder "Errr, thanks." an awkward pause, then he looks up at the sky again, half expectantly "... This is a silly question, but do you believe in miracles?" "Indeed I do," Sunder replies. Fireflight nods again and looks up "It seems a lot of movies have these miracles on this night. I guess I was a little too hopeful." he sighs and looks down to the padd again. After a silent pause once more, he blurts "I miss my brothers. I dont even know if I'll SEE them again. Slag... its only been what, five days? " he laughs, shaking his head "And I'm missing them already. That's crazy isnt it?" Sunder nods. "Those movies are censored these days," he says, "But I have seen them. "I miss some of my comrades that have not yet been freed from Autobot internment camps. "I hope you can free them." Firelfight states, optics falling to the recordings again, watching it. It was the Aerialbots, various antics they were doing and stuff "If I'm... stuck here forever. I wont see my brothers again. I'm still hopeful for whatever Galvatron plans, but I gotta be... well, Kup and Red Alert are kind of right - I'm too hopeful, I guess. I always think everything will be okay. I need to be more." a pause for the word "Down to earth. " Sunder reaches down and puts a hand on Fireflight in a comforting way. "I hope then that you can be returned to your world," he says, "This is a terrible place. We are doing our best to change that, but it is very difficult." He looks around, as if momentarily spooked. Can't be too careful. Then he seems satisfied that no hostiles are nearby and he picks a spot to lie down. He curls up and settles his wings. Fireflight looks up, and smiles "Heh. I'd do anything to even have Slingshot here to harass me." he chuckles a little, and taps the padd off. He looks again at Sunder, uncertainly "... This is going to probably make things harder when I get back you know? Merry Christmas." Hinder has arrived. "Merry Christmas," Sunder replies, "Indeed, I should think so. For I doubt my mirror self would be as kind, I think." He stretches, flares out his wings, and then pulls them in more tightly. Fireflight watches, morbidly fascinated. He probably felt a lot like humans did when they manage to get close to a very very dangerous animal, and yet, do not get mauled. He nods once more, and then sighs and looks away, humming softly to himself. He wasn't much for conversation, instead preferring to think. But finally he settles onto his back bside the sweep, staring up at the stars. Blink. Blink. And another one of those sad sighs. Hinder bounds into the area at an unhurried pace, apparently looking for Sunder and finding a bonus. She shuffles right up to Fireflight. "Hihi." Fireflight had been half-daydreaming at that point, when there's a voice in his ear. With a startled cry he sits up, wings lifting with soft rustlings of the grass under him "... Gah!... Hinder? " he blinks, mind coming down out of the clouds. Then he glances down "Hey." Sunder looks at Hinder as the little ferret-tape bounces to the Aerialbot. "Oh, it's you again. Welcome, little one." Hinder hops a little bit on her front paws, then cranes her neck a bit. "Hihi, Sundy." Fireflight smiles sadly and hooks his knee with his arms once more "Not spending this night with Soundwave? "Looking for a comfortable resting spot? Or perhaps for something shiny?" the Sweep wonders. "The nights get cold around here." Hinder says, "Soundy playing tag with Buzzy. Tiring. Want to sit and watch stars." "The stars are quite intriguing," the Sweep says, "I often find myself staring at them. Very relaxing after a long day." He rolls onto his back, gazing up at the constellations. Incidentally, this is the perfect positioning for if Hinder wanted to hop up onto his chest. "I usually like watching the lands below me. But the Stars are as beautiful." a pause, and Fireflight continues "Skydive - MY skydive - is always planning to get us all spaceworthy someday. I dont know how he'll convince Silverbolt too still. I dont know if its a good idea myself. I'd wander off to see what there is to see and never come back." he laughed. "Space Exploration can be daunting," Sunder says to the Aerialbot. "I myself have done so, and the Universe is a very large place. Quite easy to get lost, if your sensors malfunction." Hinder sees her chance and clambers up Sunder's arm and onto his chest, settling there to look up at the sky. "Why get lost? Sunder grins and peers at the ferret. "In space, sometimes gravitational forces can deceive sensor readings. This can cause a person to lose their way. And in the vastness of space, if you don't know your 'landmarks', as it were, you can travel forever and never reach your intended destination." "Oh.. heh. My self here probably doesnt. I like to watch what I'm flying over. I watch and watch, and then forget what I'm doing, or where I'm going." Explains Fireflight, not at all too embarassed. "And then, I begin to wander, looking for new things to see and watch. If I was able to leave a planet, I'd forget where I was going and just keep wandering. " he nods "What Sunder said, too." Hinder ohs quietly. "No hear brothers all the time?" Sunder hmmmms. "Do you hear your siblings all the time, Hinder?" he asks casually. Fireflight pauses, startled, then shakes his head "No. We only hear each other if we radio or speak to each other. When we're Merged... we dont really have to. " he stops to hear the answer Hinder considers. "Not Allall the time. But lots of it." "I hear my siblings often," Sunder says, "Though mainly directly or through radio contact. What saddens me most is what the Autobots--the ones of this world--have done to one of them. He is improving, but for a time he was not himself. He could neither speak, nor understand us, until repairs were begun." He sighs. Fireflight sighs and lays back on the frozen grass as well, staring up at the stars. He felt the pang in his chest, but didnt say a thing "I'm glad ... glad to hear he's improving. Hinder slumps, remembering that too. "As am I," Sunder tells Fireflight, "Such cruelty cannot be tolerated. I have uncovered more evidence that one of the Autobots wanted him for a pet. The indiginity!" The Sweep sighs again, then reaches to scritch Hinder under her little chin. Fireflight sits up then and taps at his datapadd, the screen brightening again as he brings up various text on his padd, humming softly once more. Perhaps starting to get distracted again. Fireflight sighs softly , and then recites, it seems mostly to himself "Look at all my Trials and tribulations - Sinking in a gentle pool of wine. Dont disturb me now, I can see the answers; till this evening is this morning, life is fine." "I am...unfamiliar with that," Sunder says, "Where is that from?" He continues to scritch and pet Hinder. Fireflight stares at the screen, then blinks and looks up "Huh? Oh. I dont remember." he looks at his datapadd "I collect stuff like that... I usually forget where I heard it." he explains "... that's all I have for that one. I forgot the rest before I typed it in." Sunder shrugs. "Perhaps the individual who penned that in your world did not have a counterpart in this one. Or perhaps his talents lie elsewhere in this Universe." "Maybe. I know it was written by humans." taptap "Here's one on the same file, but its different; Try not to get worried, Try not to turn onto, Problems that upset you, oh dont you know - everything's alright, yes everything's fine. And we want to you to sleep well tonight. Let the world pass without you tonight. If we try, we'll get by, so forget all about us tonight." he recites, then pauses thoughtfully "Hm.m not as good as the first for this current place and time. Lesse....." Hinder lets Sunder scritch under her chin, happy with the peaceful company. Her siblings and Soundy are fine and all, but kinda loud sometimes. The Sweep begins to purr in contentment. Though it's freezing cold outside, the "heart" of the Sweep is warm. He nods at Fireflight. "Interesting," he says. Fireflight nods and smiles a little uneasily "Yeah. I write too." he admits, nervously as though not sure about how it would be taken. "I forget most of what I thik up, but I try to write it down now, and keep it on my padd... " he laughed a little "I recently accidentally posted something about one of our recent missions to the entire FACTION... nobody told me for three days, and even then it came up in casual conversation. It makes me wonder if.. if it was meant to be posted, you know? " if he minds the cold, he doesnt show it. Hinder seems very glad to have Sunder-warmth, flopped on his chest contentedly. Sunder hmmms. "Perhaps. Fate is a very strange thing," he says to Fireflight. He continues to radiate warmth, and Hinder's own warmth echoes his own. Sunder makes a great Sweep-pillow! The Green aerialbot shivers a little in the chill, but the warmth eventuall reaches him too "yeah, heh. I think it helped... maybe." he shrugs, tapping up the screen again to read it "I never did finish it though. Oh well. I can finish it another time. " he puts the datapadd away again, restless. He looks at the two Decepticons, optics dimming again. Hinder turns her optics to Fireflight. "What wrong?" Fireflight glandes away, then up at the stars, then back "At the risk of tiring Sunder with repetition, I'm homesick." he explains quietly, sitting back on one elbow now. Hinder ohs. "Not-home place make think of home more? "Yeah. That and being apart from my brothers." Explains Fireflight quietly, getting mopey again. "Just dont tell Red Alert or Kup okay? I dont want to worry them. They have ENOUGH on their minds." Hinder ohs. "Okay. No tell." She then stands, leaving the sweep-warmth to shuffle over and try to curl up on Fireflight's chest, or neck, or someplace near his face. Fireflight blinks at this, and freezes for a long moment. He looks over at Sunder, then at the ferret on his chest. he hopes Foxfire wont get jealous as he uncertainly pets the tape a little, his squareish chestplate a good sitting spot, though he wasn't as warm as Sunder. "Thanks." Sunder shifts when Hinder leaves the warmth of his chest, and curls up again, though closer to Fireflight. His own warmth radiates towards the Aerialbot and Ferret. He purrs steadily. Soon he will drift into recharge. Hinder seems to settle in contentedly. She doesn't purr, though. She's not a kitty. Blinking again, Fireflight looks from one to the other. Then he puts his head back, and tries to rest himself, although it will probably be a bit before he was tired enough. One last sigh, the dtapadd is turned off and returned to storage.